1.3 - Construction of Bridge

1.3.1 Design rationale(a) General DesignDesign 3(b) MembersThe bridge is fully made out of ice-cream sticks pieced together with adhesive glue. Members are arranged such that it is most effective in distributing weight equally to the whole bridge. When building the bridge, we ensured that there was a line of symmetry of the bridge whereby both sides of the bridge would have identical mass. The weights were placed on this line/ point to minimise the risk of structural failure during testing.

(c) Base of Bridge

The base of the bridge is built such that it serves as the connection between the two trusses on both sides of the bridge. The base is also reinforced from below by glueing ice-cream sticks across the deck from below. This is to minimise chances of the deck breaking. It works like a bar used to bar a door to prevent it from being opened, which in this case, is the deck being broken.

(d) Anchors of Bridge

Anchors of the bridge are on both ends of the bridge and allow the bridge to be placed in between the two areas that it joins (in this context, the pieces of metal). The anchors support the entire bridge. This the reason behind why one of the ice-cream sticks at the anchor of the bridge snapped off on one side, resulting in structural failure of the bridge.(e) Joints of Bridge

The joints of the bridge are made out of overlapping ice-cream sticks. This helps to make sure that the ice-cream sticks stay in place during testing and are able to bend slightly when the load is placed on it. This helps to reduce the risk of the ice-cream sticks completely breaking off.1.3.2 Detailed Measurements of our bridgeMass of Bridge: 0.281 kgOverall Length: 56.90 cmOverall Width: 11.50 cmOverall Height: 11.20 cm1.3.3 Photograph of Prototype